Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Who Are the Winners Here?

Nothing new to report, except that we are no longer generating SRECs.

So who wins in the new scenario? Installers and electricians stand to benefit, I suppose. I chose not to spend the money on new equipment, mostly because SRECs are near worthless right now and it would take nearly a year just to break even. But I'm sure some people will make the investment.

The SREC brokers? I'm not sure. There will probably be fewer SRECs to broke. On the other hand, if that's the case, then that makes SRECs more valuable, I'd think, so commissions would be bigger. It's probably a wash for them, at best.

The big power companies that are required to purchase the SRECs? If what I said above is true, I'd think they'll have to pay more per SREC now. Not more than they were two years ago, though, when they were going for ten times what they go for now.

So, after two minutes of deep reflection, I don't see any obvious winners here as a result of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) decision to require the new equipment. Anybody else have an idea? Why did they do this?

17 comments:

Jeff From NJ
said...

I guess their argument would be that tons of people were reporting generation numbers with non accurate equipment.. and basically making more SREC's than they were really producing. So requiring this accurate equipment is a way to level the playing field. It also gives them something to do... which is screw with the average guy... which of course they enjoy. What I find really odd in your case is that you were never provided with an SREC meter. What you were getting your numbers from was the bi directional electric meter. I have one too... tells the input and output... but I also have a totally separate SREC meter which solely tells the amount generated by the system. And an FYI... the output on the electric meter gives me a LOWER number than the generation on the SREC meter. So I'd be losing out if I was just using that. I really think your installer screwed you over.

I can only guess that they made the law before the pricing fell through floor. I know that when our solar was inspected in 2011, the inspector insisted on a separate meter, even though it wasn't the law. Our installer didn't want to spend the money at first, but did install a separate meter to pass inspection.

Now I'm glad they did. However, back then the SREC rates were close to $600.

Maybe the NJ board was worried that with the high rates too many people would be tempted to cheat? I'm not sure, but today with SRECs being worthless, it sure doesn't make sense.

Perhaps the 4 million ratepayers that do not own solar systems want to make sure they are getting MWhs of electricity produced with their SRECs? They are paying for them afterall? Is it possible that a solar system on engineering estimates could continue producing SRECs even though the inverter went kaput in 2005? or the panels flew off in October 2012?

Dave,Although I had my system installed a while ago (actually two separate ones by two different companies), I have not sold any SRECs. I'm registered on GATs and can get on SREC trade. After that, I have no idea what to do to sell SRECs. Do I have to enter reading somewhere? I don't see any SREC's showing up anywhere. Can you provide a good site or reference to get guidance on exactly what I need to do to sell SRECs?T from NJ

Sorry that I didn't see your question. Not much has been going on, so I haven't been posting. I'm kinda sorta thinking about adding the equipment to allow me to sell SRECs again.

For a general education on selling SRECs, I'd go right to the New Jersey Source.

http://www.njcleanenergy.com/

Personally, I don't think that site is well organized, but if you keep clicking, you'll learn a lot.

To be honest, I was confused about the process until a broker explained it to me (and then became my broker). When I started, it was all based on estimates that figured in hours of sun and number of panels. The new system, the one which will require me to buy new equipment, does call for us solar generators to send in readings on a regular basis.

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